Not Just A Phase
by uptown
Summary: “Troy Bolton-” Sharpay began; her voice was loud above the other noise in the hallway. “Sharpay, don’t-” Troy started, his eyes pleading. “-hasn’t had sex!” This is where the phrase ‘dead quiet’ comes in.
1. Trailer

"It's a phase, Troy."

_We hear Chad's voice on a blank screen, before a clear picture of him and Troy sitting on the benches in the locker room after practice appears._

"It happens in every relationship."

_The camera zooms in on Troy's face, then on Chad's. It stays on Chad's as he says:_

"It's called the break up-"

_A clip is shown of Gabriella slapping Troy across the face._

"And the make up."

_A clip of Troy pulling Gabriella into a heated kiss._

_Followed by a clip of their two bodies falling back into his mattress._

_Followed by a clip of Gabriella straddling Troy at the hips, pulling her shirt over her head._

_We hear Gabriella's voice, it's soft and sensual as she leans down and kisses his chest: _"Troy."

_Her voice becomes louder, she kisses his neck: _"Troy."

"Troy!"

_The camera pans in on Troy's face, his eyes are closed but as his name is shouted his eyes spring open. _

_The camera frame widens and we see that Troy is sitting in Ms. Darbus's class and she is staring straight at him._

_Troy sits up straight in his desk and clears his throat before saying:_

"Uh. Can you repeat the question?"

**Troy Bolton is the perfect boy…**

_A clip of Troy laughing, his hair falling just across his eyes and his teeth the perfect shade of white._

**With the perfect life…**

_A clip of Troy kissing his mother's cheek before grabbing a piece of toast for breakfast._

**And the perfect girlfriend…**

_A clip of Gabriella kissing Troy softly._

**There's just one flaw…**

_We see Sharpay and Troy walking through the hall casually to class before Sharpay stops them in the middle of the hallway, students continuing to walk around them as Sharpay's eyes grow wide and she screams:_

"Troy Bolton hasn't had sex?!"

_We see the entire hallways stop. It is completely silent. Troy is red-faced as he looks around at the other students before turning back to Sharpay._

"No Shar. Boy. Boy Fulton. Boy Fulton hasn't had sex."

**Can the perfect boy handle a non-physical relationship…**

"Have you tried talking to her about it?"

_We hear Sharpay's voice over the phone as we see a clip of Troy trying to do his homework, holding the phone to his ear._

"Keyword: tried."

**Or will one of these break ups**…

_We still hear Sharpay talking over the phone:_ "I could _try_ to make you feel better."

_Hearing the inflection in Sharpay's words, the camera zooms in on Troy's face, his eyes showing that he's considering the offer._

**Be his last…**

_Multiple shots of Troy and Sharpay kissing: one in the locker room, one in the bathroom, one in Troy's bedroom._

_At this shot, the camera zooms out and we see a brief flash of Gabriella with a pained expression on her face._

_The scene changes, Troy is standing with Gabriella outside her house. Gabriella cheeks are soaked with tears._

"Troy, I saw you."

"Brie, I don't-"

"You and Sharpay. I saw you together!"

We see _Troy looking ashamed as another tear rolls down Gabriella's cheek._

**From the producers of He's Just Not That Into You…**

_The scene changes, we see Troy in Sharpay's bedroom, sitting on the edge of her bed, his head in his palms as Sharpay is softly rubbing his shoulder to console him._

"I'm sorry, Troy-"

_The name __**Zac Efron**__ is shown on the screen._

_We still hear Sharpay talking, but the view is of Troy picking his head up from his hands to look at Sharpay._

"-but maybe this time-"

_The name __**Vanessa Hudgens**__ is shown on the screen._

_A clip of Gabriella brushing past Troy to get to her house, wiping a tear away. _

_The name __**Ashley Tisdale**__ is shown on the screen._

_The scene returns to Troy and Sharpay sitting on the bed, Sharpay blinks before continuing_:

"-you're not supposed to make up."

_A clip of Troy is shown, his eyes locked with Sharpay's for a only a few seconds before Sharpay's arms flew around Troy's neck and his hands wrapped around her waist simultaneously. The camera blurs out._

_The camera re-focuses to a random shot of Sharpay's room. Nothing is moving in the shot until a pink rhinestone dress is shown falling slowly to the floor. Across the screen the title reads:_

**It's Not Just A Phase**

_Fade to Black._


	2. MakeUp Sex, Party Of One

_This was her interpretation of make-up sex?_ Troy tried to calm himself by breathing slowly, closing his eyes, and imagining his grandma.

He was about to go insane. He and Gabriella had been going through what Chad called a Break-Up-Make-Up phase. A time in each relationship where one of the members would become overly irritated with some aspect of the other, and they would fight about it for a few hours before getting back together again. And then break up again. And make up again. Until... well... they broke up or got over it.

Troy remembered the conversation. It was after the third fight Gabriella had started because Troy hadn't called her the night before like he said he would. They were sitting on the benches in the locker room after basketball practice. "It's a phase, Troy-" he had said, "It happens in every relationship." Well, this _phase_ had been going on for two months. And they weren't broken up and they weren't getting over it. None of the fights were even lasting more than twenty-four hours. Chad had also said that the make up part of this phase was supposed to make the girl counterpart ridiculously aroused- resulting in make-up sex. Troy had yet to reap the rewards of such arousal; arousal he was starting to believe didn't exist.

Gabriella shifted slightly next to him, her arm that had been crossed across his bare torso sliding to rest atop his belly button. Troy opened his eyes and looked down at his girlfriend, clad only in her boy shorts and her tank top. Troy restrained himself from looking at the blue lace bra he knew was peaking out of from underneath it. This is how it always ended. Gabriella would fall asleep with the faintest smile on her face, and he was left awake trying to relax the tent in his pants- a feat he always found difficult due to the beautiful half naked girl in bed next to him. As he carefully brushed a strand of brunette curl behind her ear, he couldn't help but muster up a tiny grin. He loved Gabriella. He did. But three fights a week for two months? That was twenty four cases of blue balls. No…twenty three. Somewhere in-between there naive Gabriella was feeling generous enough to sneak in a hand job. Then again, Troy could do that himself.

Careful not to wake her, he slid his arm out from underneath his girlfriend and walked straight into the bathroom. He turned the shower on, making sure it was as cold as possible before shedding his boxers and stepping underneath the water. He leaned his forehead against the tile wall and let the chill of the water temporarily distract him from the erection he was sporting. After about two minutes of uselessness he gave up and decided to go a different route, turning the water to hot and leaning his back against the wall as he relieved himself of his pent up energy.

Troy could only think of three reasons why Gabriella did not want to sleep with him. Theory one; Gabriella was planning on joining a convent, and she was preparing herself for all the sex-free years ahead by not having sex with him now. Theory two; there was something wrong with him. Something about him that Gabriella didn't like about him or didn't trust about him that made her feel she couldn't share the experience with him. And theory three; she was the biggest tease in Albuquerque. But every time he found himself looking into her chocolate eyes, he would forget this theory. There was no way someone so smart and innocent could be a tease.

But if she wasn't planning on becoming a nun, and she wasn't a tease, that only left one theory to be true- that there was something about him that was putting her off. Did he need to spend more hours at the gym? Was it because he wasn't at smart as her? Every other girl at East High didn't seem to mind. What. The. Hell.

Once Troy had finished his task, he rubbed some shampoo into his hair and washed it out, trying to prolong his going back out to his girlfriend. He dried himself off, keeping the towel wrapped loosely around his hips as he walked back into his room, stopping in front of his dresser and rummaging through for a pair of boxers. As he pulled a pair out, his cell phone vibrated loudly atop his bedside table. He cringed, turning to see Gabriella shuffling underneath the dark red sheet. He padded over to the wooden table and picked up his phone, opening the text.

_Can I interest you in a box of pepperoni pizza? My brother ordered enough to feed a small army. –S_

"Why so smiley?"

Troy looked up from his phone to see Gabriella's brown eyes staring up at him. She slowly sat up from the mattress, chestnut ringlets cascading around her shoulders. Troy, unaware he had been smiling, shut his phone and set it back on the table. "Uh... nothing... Dinner invite. You sort of came over right before I got the chance to eat."

Gabriella's lips formed a pout, and she crossed her arms across her barely covered chest. "Well, _I'm sorry_. Maybe I shouldn't have come over to make up until after your stomach's needs had been satisfied." She smirked and slid off the opposite side of the bed, picking her jeans off the floor. "I'll make sure to call next time."

Troy sighed and walked around the bed, wrapping his arms around her shoulders from behind as she buttoned her jeans. "You know that's not what I meant. You're better than food, Brie." He leaned forward to kiss the sweet spot just below her ear, smiling against her skin as he felt her shudder. "Way better."

She turned around slowly, and he could tell she was trying hard to keep the pout on her face. Gabriella let her fingers scrape down his torso, stopping at the towel hanging around his hips. Looking up at him, she grasped the terry cloth fabric in her hands, her pout amplified as her eyes grew sultry. "You showered without me?"

"I'd be more than happy to take another."

"I'm sure you would." She leaned forward, kissing his chest. "You horny-" She kissed his shoulder. "Teenage." She stood on her toes to meet his lips. "Boy."

"Wanting to be with my girlfriend does not make me a horny teenage boy."

Her _not _wanting being with her boyfriend was making him a horny teenage boy. But he wasn't about to explain that situation to her.

"I'm with you right now, Troy."

"I know you are. I just-"

"Want more?" Troy blinked and looked down. Gabriella took a breath and unclenched her hands from the towel, "I'm sorry."

Troy looked up and caught her eyes. He shook his head and raised a hand to cup her cheek. "There's nothing to be sorry for." When Gabriella didn't respond, he racked his brain for the right thing to say- but he drew a blank. "You know I'm not pressuring you, right? I would never."

At this Gabriella smiled and pressed her cheek against his chest. "I know that. And I want to be with you… like that... You know I do. I just- I'm just not ready right now."

Troy nodded and let his hand drop from her cheek. As she looked around for her sweatshirt-or his sweatshirt, really- he took the opportunity to pull his boxers up underneath the towel. She walked back over to him, and as her arms snaked around his neck for their usual good-bye kiss he couldn't help but think: _Well, at least she's not becoming a nun._

_

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_Thanks for reading! If you liked it, review? (:


	3. Seventeen Seconds

"It's called chewing, Troy. You should try it."

Troy looked away from the flat screen television to see the brown eyes of Sharpay Evan's peering at him. After Gabriella had left, Troy decided he would accept Sharpay's offer on joining her for pizza. That's how Troy cam to be sitting on the large white couch in the Evan's living room, watching a cheesy love movie Sharpay had easily convinced him to watch. He was sitting slouched in the middle of the couch, while Sharpay was sprawled out, leaning her head back against the armrest with her thin dancer legs draped across his lap. It was almost hard to believe that a few months ago they weren't even friends. Sharpay had obviously always liked Troy, and they'd known each other since the pre-school era, but they'd never been as good friends as they are now. Lava Springs was the first time since probably third grade that he had seen the civil Sharpay. A civil Sharpay who he's been hanging out with a lot since summer. A civil Sharpay who wasn't an Ice Queen. A civil Sharpay who was…cute.

Then again, he'd always thought she was cute.

Troy blinked, swallowing the giant bite of pepperoni pizza he had in his mouth. After looking into her eyes for a long moment, Troy had to remind himself that he had a girlfriend. "Sorry. I'm starving. Gabriella came over to... _make up_ before I got the chance to-"

Sharpay raised her manicured hand, cutting Troy off. "Say no more. Make up sex is greater than food."

"Mm." He muttered, taking another bite of pizza.

Sharpay 's forehead creased in curiosity. She took a sip of the Diet Coke she was holding and watched Troy's blue eyes glaze over while looking at the box of pizza on the coffee table. "You okay?" He nodded, redirecting his gaze to the television screen as he took another bite of pizza. "No you're not." Sharpay put her soda can on the table, lifting her legs off his lap. She rearranged her sitting position so that her head was leaning against his shoulder and she was curled up against his side. This movement barely affected Troy, as he kept his eyes glued to Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.

"Do you ever wonder if it's worth it?"

This statement, however, did catch his attention.

Troy leaned forward and put the rest of his slice into the almost empty pizza box. He clapped the crust-dust off of his hands, and as soon as his back was back against the cushion, Sharpay's head reclaimed its position on his shoulder. "If what's worth it?"

"The fighting."

Troy sucked in- what he hoped was- a silent breath. He did wonder. He wondered a lot. But, if it was just a phase, they would get through it. Because they loved each other. But what did it mean if every day he had to remind himself of that fact? Especially now, when Sharpay's hand was lightly resting atop his forearm. Despite himself, the action calmed his thoughts.

Sharpay felt Troy's body tense up as he breathed in. When he was silent for more than a normal Troy amount of time, she trailed her fingers along his skin slowly, up and down. She hadn't meant to upset him, if that's what was wrong, but the question had been burning her for the past weeks when every other minute Troy was miserable because Gabriella had found something stupid to fight with him about. Troy deserved better than that. Gabriella didn't deserve him. Sharpay did.

Sharpay bit her lip to keep from smirking. She constantly had to remind herself that she and Troy were friends now. Actual friends. Not just-being-civil friends. If she reverted back to her Scheming-Must-Have-Troy ways, she would lose that friendship. And she really liked this friendship. She liked that they could walk to classes together, and hang out after school, and make late night fast food runs on days when Troy and Gabriella were fighting and he had trouble sleeping. He even went to the gym with her the next day after she felt fat from the french fries. Just because she couldn't scheme, didn't mean she couldn't think about it, right? Besides, hanging out with Troy had started to soften her up. To her dismay Troy was turning her, she shuttered, _nice_.

"Troy?" She looked up from the tan arm she was stroking. His light eyes seemed vacant but his slightly furrowed brows told Sharpay there were major thoughts brewing in Troy's mind.

"Chad said we'll get through it." He was monotone, mentally recalling every fight Gabriella had started.

"Well, that solves everything." Sharpay sat up, looking at Troy's perfect profile while he continued to stare at the movie on the flat screen across the room. She highly doubted he was enthralled with the romance of two teenage lovers brought back together by a newspaper article.

Seven more seconds of silence passed by and Sharpay was losing her patience with Troy and his relationship angst. She reached up and grabbed his chin, turning his head towards her. "Troy, listen to me."

In the two seconds it took for Sharpay to turn his head towards her, Troy realized four things. One, Sharpay's hands were really soft. Two, even while using her Ice Queen voice, her sentence sounded like velvet. Three, he had never in his life used the word 'velvet' to describe someone's voice before- not even someone who was his girlfriend. And four, it was eerie how, with one look, she could make him stop thinking about Gabriella.

"You need to talk to Gabriella." Troy stared. Gabriella. Right. Gabriella, _his girlfriend_, Gabriella. What the hell was happening to him?

"You need to tell her- no adjectives, no embellishments- that if she continues to pick fights with you, you'll have no choice to break up with her this time."

"But I-"

"And when she blinks her large tear-welling brown eyes at you, you will not break down, Troy Bolton. Do you hear me?" Troy's eyes flashed down to her lips. Sharpay was hot when she was bossy... _No. Knock it off, Troy. _"You will tell her that she's been toying with you for long enough and that you don't deserve any of the pain she's putting you through."

He looked back to her eyes. "I'm not in pain."

"Not physically, no."

"She's my girlfriend, Sharpay." Troy shook his head, confused at where Sharpay's sudden outburst had come from. "I love her."

Sharpay winced at Troy's sentence, letting go of his face. "You love constantly being accused of doing something wrong? You love waiting up for her every other night to call you and tell you that she's sorry and that she loves you again? I know you love roller coasters, Bolton, but this is fucking ridiculous."

There was hardly a time when Troy was speechless. But no one had ever spoken to him with the force that Sharpay had. Troy hadn't even noticed until now that their faces were only about four inches apart. It took an extreme amount of willpower for Troy to keep from looking at her lips.

Sharpay's heart was beating fast from her speech. And seeing the cerulean eyes in front of her darting from her eyes to her lips wasn't helping to slow it down. She had dreams about Troy like this sometimes. Dreams where Troy would realize he was absolutely infatuated with her, and would lift her up in his arms and kiss her. And they would kiss for the rest of the night and he would never want to be without her again.

The sound of Rachel McAdams being slammed against the wall by Ryan Gosling snapped her out of her trance and her eyes focused on the two of the screen. Troy slamming her passionately against the wall... Yum..._ No. Knock it off, Sharpay._ After a few moments of watching the movie, she turned back to Troy, who had already turned back to look at her if he'd even turned to watch the movie at all.

There was a noticeable tension in the air. Electric tension. Troy cleared his throat. "I should probably go home. It's getting-"

Sharpay cut him off by grabbing his arm as he stood up. He turned to see her looking up at him, a friendly smile on her lips. "Sleep over."

They stayed like that. And Sharpay counted exactly seventeen seconds before Troy gave his response:

"Okay."

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Hm... is it hot in here, or is it just Troypay?

Review? (:


	4. I Dont Understand Portuguese

_I never knew just what it was_

_About this old coffee shop I love so much_

_All of the while I never knew_

Sharpay awoke to the sound of loud music screaming out from her alarm clock. Per usual, she let the song play at that volume for a few seconds before lazily turning the volume to a more reasonable level. As she did so, she kicked the light pink sheet off of her body and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. You would think Sharpay's room would be a sanctuary of hot pink and rhinestones, but many people at East High would be surprised to know it wasn't. Though the wall behind her large bed was painted a deep pink and all the other walls were a paler pink, the carpet and all of her furniture were a pristine white. Her bedding and curtains matched both the colors on the walls-as made sure of by the Evans family decorator.

Sharpay slipped out of bed and slumped over to the full length mirrors covering the double doors to her closet. She tilted her head, brushing her fingers through her hair as she gave herself the once over. Her brown eyes filtered down from her blonde tresses to her pink camisole to her cream colored satin pajama pants. As her eyes flickered back up she caught Troy's reflection in the mirror.

_I think that possibly_

_Maybe I've fallen for you_

_Yes, there's a chance_

_That I've fallen quite hard over you_

Sharpay narrowed her eyes at the alarm clock_. Let's_ _be a little more ironic, shall we? _She turned around and saw Troy's body wrestling for comfort atop the small white couch next to her bed. Sharpay had insisted he sleep on the bed with her, but-having fidelity and a raging conscience, he'd been adamant to sleep on the couch. She laughed, his body finally settling into a position where one arm was bent over his head and the other was resting atop his bare abdominals. Sharpay nearly choked on the air she was breathing. When had he taken his shirt off?

She couldn't help but wonder if her mind was playing dirty tricks. She'd had dreams like this, too. Except these dreams in particular tended to be more…graphic. She hadn't seen Troy shirtless since September, but it was March now, and a lot had improved in those six months. If that was even possible. Sharpay remembered him having an achieved six-pack, but it was more defined now. Must be all their trips to the gym. She ran a hand through her hair, unsuccessfully trying to remove her eyes from his tanned torso. She followed the angular lines down, up, and down again, as if his abs were the most beautiful thing in the world. As she went up the second time she bit her lip, restraining herself from making a third round. _Be good, Sharpay. He's your friend. _She used 310% of her will power to bring her lust-filled eyes back up to his face. _Friend friend friend fri_-_FUCK._

He was looking at her. Troy Bolton and his eyes were staring up at her with curiosity and a hint of smugness. And god be damned for making those pools of cerulean even bluer in the morning. Sharpay fought back the blush that was creeping up her neck.

_I've seen the waters that make your eyes shine_

_Now I'm shining too_

"Enjoying the view?" Troy smirked.

"Just wondering how you came to be half naked on my clean white couch." She snapped back. She could not have Troy knowing he could make her squirm.

"Sorry." He started, stretching as he sat up. Sharpay noticed the muscles in his arms flexing as he did so. "Got hot in the middle of the night."

She rolled her eyes as she turned around and walked in the direction of her vanity. Flipping the tall floor lamp on, she sat down in the small chair. "Well put a shirt on. You're indecent." _Indecent? Says who?_

She had just picked up a brush and started to comb through her hair when she heard Troy's voice sound from behind her. "Holy. Shit." Her pupils grew wide for a moment before she spun around. Did her hair really look that bad? "What? What's wrong?"

Troy turned towards Sharpay, shaking his head as he pointed to her alarm clock. "It's 6:30?" Sharpay nodded slowly. "School doesn't start until 7:30." Sharpay continued nodding, still not understanding what he was getting at.

"What time do you normally wake up?"

"Usually _after_ the sun has risen."

Sharpay rolled her eyes and turned back to the vanity mirror. "I need an hour to get ready. At the least. Beauty this good doesn't come easy."

Troy groaned and fell face first into her mattress.

"Don't be such a baby."

"Mm nungh uh behbeh. Uhndu oh unteed uh our yook eye un." Troy mumbled, his face pressed into Sharpay's pale pink comforter.

Sharpay dropped her brush and circled to face Troy. "Sorry. I don't understand Portuguese."

Troy turned his head to look at her. "Very funny."

Sharpay smiled and turned back to her vanity.

"But seriously."

Sharpay stopped at his words. As she turned once more, she noticed Troy was now lying on his back, his arms covering his face. To shield his eyes from the light, Sharpay reasoned.

"Seriously what? Our school doesn't even offer a class in Portuguese."

"Not that part." Troy smiled. Sharpay remained silent, confused. "The part about you looking fine."

Sharpay's forehead creased. "I don't remember you-"

"I must've said it in Portuguese." Troy interrupted, and Sharpay was happy that his eyes were covered and couldn't see the giddy-school-girl-grin playing on her face. She walked over to the bed and laid down on her stomach next to Troy, placing her chin in the palm of her hand.

Troy felt the mattress sink slightly as her body came to rest next to his. "I said you don't need an hour." He dropped his arms from his face, crossed them over his chest and turned to look at her. He meant what he'd said. People rarely looked good in the morning, but Sharpay was the exception. "You look fine."

"I bet."

"Well, your breath could use some freshening up, but besides that..."

Sharpay clamped her mouth, glaring at Troy as he let out a laugh. "I hate you."

"I bet." He grinned, repeating her words.

"Don't test me, Bolton. I'll make-"

"Make what? My eyes water?"

"You were warned."

"I'm so sca-"

Sharpay covered Troy's mouth with her hand and climbed on top of him. His hands reached to pull hers away but she caught them instead and held them both on either side of his head. If he was strong enough to fight her off, which she knew he was, he wasn't using the power to his advantage. She leaned forward, keen to knock the amusement out of his eyes. "This fresh enough for you?" She breathed, drawing out each syllable, making herself sound like a snake as the words came out "Thisssss fressssshhh enough for youuuu?" _Yes, _Sharpay thought, _this is what is going to make Troy Bolton want to kiss me._

Troy took the moment of hesitation after Sharpay spoke to shift his body weight, turning their bodies in the opposite position. He had both of her wrists pinned down while balancing his weight off her body, a delightful smile on his lips. "If your definition of fresh is nasty."

"Right, and your breathe smells like a burst of minty freshness." She looked up at him, the smile on her face fading as she scanned his face-all the while he kept his once again curious eyes intensely focused on hers. Sharpay was taking in the moment with deep focus. She noticed Troy's slightly flushed face. She noticed his hands slowly loosen their hold on her wrists. She noticed Troy didn't mind that her cami had slightly shimmied upward and was now revealing her belly button. She noticed that, even though he was balancing his weight off of her, the skin of his still-shirtless torso was touching hers. And she noticed that she was jealous of Gabriella. At the fact that just last night before Troy had come over to her house, Gabriella had been able to have all of Troy's skin on hers. This last observation brought her back to reality, just in time to hear the final lyrics of the song still playing on her alarm clock.

_All of the while I never knew_

_All of the while_

_All of the while, it was you_

Sharpay had barely even noticed that Troy had freed her wrists and was starting to lift himself off of her. "I should probably get home for breakfast." He said. Sharpay nodded, sitting up and watching as he reached for the shirt he had shed sometime last night.

Once he'd managed to pull the shirt over his head he looked over at Sharpay, backing towards the door. "See you at school?"

"Yep. Tell your mom I said hi." Sharpay smiled as Troy mock saluted his way out of her bedroom. She dropped her forehead into her palms, letting out a soft groan. Whoever invented sexual tension was a _real_ asshole.

"Oh, and Sharpay?" Sharpay looked up to see Troy's head peaking into her room. She raised an eyebrow and Troy grinned a teeth-bearing grin. "Brush your teeth."

/

"My son, Troy Bolton, awake before 7?"

Troy looked at his mom as he walked into the kitchen. She was standing at the island at the kitchen's center frying eggs. He smiled as she held a piece of toast out for him. He leaned over and kissed her cheek while taking the toast from her hand. "Morning mom. Sharpay says hi."

"What did she have to do to get you awake? Sing opera?"

Troy bit into the toast and smiled again. He vaguely remembered being woken up by Sharpay's alarm clock. He'd kept his eyes closed for about a minute though, not wanting to have to get up despite how uncomfortable he was on the couch. When he had opened his eyes however he'd seen Sharpay standing over him, staring in a way that Gabriella only managed every so often. It was pure lust. And in any other situation Troy probably would have found it extremely creepy. But with Sharpay, there was something in her chestnut eyes that made it okay. But there was also something in those eyes that could stop this thoughts completely- to point where he could only focus on her. Troy thought this feeling felt very _very _good. And this was very _very_ bad.

"Alarm clock, mom."

"Well, we'll have to buy one of them." Mrs. Bolton said, smiling playfully at her son as she flipped an egg. "Maybe Gabriella can give it to you as a birthday present."

As he took another bite of his toast, the worst of all thoughts passed through Troy's mind:

_Gabriella who?_

_

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_

Okay, so the song I used for the alarm clock is _Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop _by_ Landon Pigg._

I think I should probably put some Gabriella into the next chapter. She is dating Troy, after all.

Hm... review? (:


	5. He Who Must Not Be Truthful

Troy had come to Sharpay's house with a specific purpose. He was going to tell Sharpay about his feelings. He had two plans. Plan one; if she felt the same, he would kiss her. Plan two; if she shot him down, he would turn around, get back in his truck, and drive home feeling like a total asshole for even thinking of cheating on Gabriella. Within ten seconds of ringing the doorbell, Sharpay had pulled the door open. She gave Troy an unsure once over, her brown eyes batting as she returned his gaze.

_Fuck, those eyes._ Troy blinked. What did he come here to say again?

"Troy." She said it like she wasn't surprised to see him. Troy stood still on her doorstep, his mind reeling with ways he could go about saying what he wanted to say. They both stayed in their respective position, enthralled in a riveting game of who-will-break-eye-contact-first.

Sharpay lost.

She took two quick steps toward, her arms flinging around Troy's neck. Before Troy could wrap his mind around what was happening, his lips were melting against hers and his arms were curling around her waist. He missed the sensation as she pulled away, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck as she kept perched on her toes. "Troy." She whispered, her breath hot on his ear.

"Troy!"

Troy opened his eyes to see Ms. Darbus and his entire homeroom staring at him. He looked around, sitting up in his desk's seat. _Not embarrassing at all. _He cleared his throat. "Uh. Can you repeat the question?"

The classroom filled with hushed laughter as the first bell of the day echoed through the hallways. Ms. Darbus gave Troy a stern look. "Saved by the bell, Mr. Bolton."

Troy nodded as he stood up. He felt Sharpay brush shoulders with him as she exited the classroom, her brother and Kelsi close behind. He felt a warm hand wrap itself around his own and he looked over to see Gabriella sliding her fingers in between his. "Tired?"

Troy smirked. "What tipped you off?"

He pulled at her hand, leading the two of them out into the hallway. "I took falling asleep in class as a hint. Which bring me to my next question. How'd you get so tired?"

Now, Troy could either lie or tell her truth. Of course the truth would come with another fight. And as they followed their normal route to Troy's locker he realized he couldn't handle another fight right now. He was still getting over the last one. Not that he was a pussy, but the four hour fights were really getting irritating. He squeezed her hand before letting it go, pulling open his locker door.

"Troy?" He looked back at Gabriella, who had the word 'worry' written across her face. Her eyes were curious as she looked up at him. Troy pulled a notebook out of his locker and put a reassuring smile on his face as he pushed the metal door closed.

Telling the truth? He decided against it.

"I couldn't sleep last night." Troy slid a hand around her waist, letting his back press against the cold lockers as he pulled her small frame against his chest.

"Poor baby." She smiled, circling her arms around his torso. "You could've called me."

_No. No I could not have_. "I didn't want to wake you up."

"I was up late typing up a lab report, anyway. I wouldn't have minded."

"I'll text you next ti-"

"Golly gee, how adorable."

The couple turned to see Sharpay leaning her shoulder against a locker a few down from Troy's. She tapped the toe of her pink heel against the floor before she straightened herself. "Falling asleep in class, Troy? How delinquent of you."

"Mm. That's what we were just talking about." Gabriella smiled at Sharpay, leaning her cheek against Troy's chest. Sharpay's eyes watched as Troy's arms tightened around Gabriella's back, and she cursed herself for not looking away when he tilted his head down to kiss the top of her head. "When I left last night he seemed pretty tired."

Sharpay's eyes narrowed slightly. _Yeah, you guys had sex, I get it._

"But he says he couldn't sleep so…" As Gabriella trailed off, a mischievous grin came to Sharpay's lips.

She looked over at Troy, raising an eyebrow. His blue eyes went wide for a moment and he turned his head to the side, just enough to meet Sharpay's stare. He shook his head once, silently begging Sharpay to keep her mouth shut. _Okay, lover boy, I'll play nice_. She looked back at Gabriella. "I bet."

Gabriella smiled once more, reaching up to kiss Troy softly before she let herself loose of his grip. She looked over at where Sharpay was standing. "Where do you go next, Sharpay?"

"Portuguese." Sharpay smirked.

Troy, who had his arms crossed across his chest, raised an arm to cover his mouth with a loose fist in an attempt to conceal his amusement. Gabriella looked back and forth between the two of them, obviously confused and out of the loop. "We have Portuguese here?" _Well me and Troy do, I don't know about you._ Sharpay looked back at Troy, who now had a smile on his face. He glanced in Sharpay's direction before looking back at his girlfriend. He shook his head. "She meant English."

"Oh." Sharpay relished the confusion in Gabriella's voice as she turned to Troy. "Well, I'll see you at lunch?"

"Yeah." He nodded, waiting before Gabriella was all the way down the hall before pushing himself away from the locker. He looked back at Sharpay, who was staring at him with a smug look on her face.

"Don't say it." He said, pulling at her arm to turn her around as they started walking down the hall to class.

"Troy Bolton is a dirty little liar."

"I am not."

"Truth hider?"

"No."

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Truthful..."

"Alright, enough."

"I'm sorry." Sharpay laughed, nudging at Troy's arm with her elbow. "But it's not often I get to catch Mr. Goody Goody breaking relationship rules."

_Oh, I'm breaking more than one._ "It was a necessary lie. If she blows up over stupid little things how do you think she'd react knowing I slept over another girl's house?"

"You weren't even in my bed."

"Yeah, but-"

"And it's not like you two weren't _getting it on_ a few hours prior." Sharpay gagged. _Kill me._

Troy swallowed the lump in his throat. As if she heard the inaudible gulp, Sharpay turned to look at him.

"Right?"

"Well... No."

"Alright then, the night before."

"No. Not the night before." Troy corrected. Sharpay was so busy beaming on the inside that she barely hear Troy quietly add, "or any other night."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"Repeat, Bolton."

"Not the night be-"

"No no. What you said after that."

"I didn't say anything else."

"Troy, I may not be a genius like your girlfriend, but I'm not an idiot."

"I said…" Troy took a deep breath, looking around at the people walking around them. "I said me and Gabriella don't… we haven't…"

Sharpay stopped short in the middle of the hallway, grabbing Troy's arm as he kept walking, pulling him back. A freshman boy crashed into Sharpay's side but she ignored it, her eyes so wide that Troy could see her entire brown iris. Troy stood there, looking at her with nervous eyes.

"Troy Bolton-" Sharpay began; her voice was loud above the other noise in the hallway.

"Sharpay, don't-" Troy started, his eyes pleading.

It was too late.

"-hasn't had sex?"

This is where the phrase 'dead quiet' comes in.

The entire hallway stopped around them. Teachers included. People farther away from the duo were trying to peer over and around people to see what the commotion was about. Troy turned the brightest shade of red possible as he looked around at the other students. Scenes like this were only supposed to happen in the movies. He sucked in a breath. _Think on your toes, Bolton._

"No Shar. Boy. Boy Fulton. Boy Fulton hasn't had sex."

_Smoooooth._

The hallways slowly started to regain movement as Troy grabbed Sharpay's arm and pulled her down the hallway in the direction they had been moving. It took a long moment before her mind stopped reeling and she could remember how to walk on her own. "Holy _shit_. But last night you said-"

"Last night I didn't give you a straight response. I mumbled. You misinterpreted."

"I assumed."

"Well now you know. And I _assume_ by lunch so will the entire school." Sharpay blushed guiltily as Troy glanced over at her. "Thanks for that."

"I'm sorry, I just… really?"

Troy gave Sharpay a half-exasperated-half-TellMeAboutIt look. Sharpay bit her lip. It was heart wrenching to see Troy like this. He was normally so upbeat. And to know that she caused the emotion made her feel worse. She followed Troy as he turned into their classroom. He sat at his desk, and Sharpay dropped down in the one next to him.

Troy ignored the stare he could see Sharpay giving him out of the corner of his eye. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He was planning on ignoring the text. He was in no mood to hear what anyone had to say. I mean really, it had only been thirty seconds since the outburst. How could so many people know? _Right, Boy Fulton. Because that was such a tough code to crack._ He would not open one message. Except maybe Gabriella telling him to meet him in a janitor's closet somewhere. _Troy, this is hardly the time to be thinking of these things._ He flipped idly through his notebook as his phone vibrated once more. He decided he would ignore this text too-but when his phone continued to vibrate he gave in and pulled the cell from his pocket, figuring he might as well get it over with.

"Look. Congratulatory texts." Troy said, holding up his vibrating phone to Sharpay. She gave him an apologetic smile.

He flipped open the phone. He had five texts.

The first from Chad:

_dude, you haven't ridden the g-train yet? and you don't fucking tell me? we're talking about this later, asshole._

The second from Zeke:

_boy fulton? nice try, bro. sorry to hear the bad news. i'll bake you something to drown the pain. just got a new recipe for éclairs and you've given me a great reason to try it out._

The third from Kelsi:

_gabriella won't be happy, troy._

The fourth from Jason:

_yo, some guy named boy fulton isn't getting laid. lol_.

Troy rolled his eyes as he opened the last text. His stomach dropped as he read the name of the sender. **Brie**_. Fuck, of course she would find out_.

Troy looked over at Sharpay, whose eyes were scanning the screen of her own phone. _Probably reading the good news as well_. He turned back to his phone and read the message.

_Troy, can't meet you at lunch. i'll see you later._

Troy stared blankly at the text. Normally, following Gabriella's texts, there would be some sort of heart or smiley face. But in this one, nothing. Either Gabriella heard, was fuming, and this was her way of saying she was pissed that her personal life was spread across East High. _Or_ she had to make up some class work and lunch was the only time she could make it up. But Gabriella was never absent-ever, which meant that she was more or less pissed. God knows she had ammo to fuel a new fight. But Troy decided not to jump to conclusions.

"You okay?"

He turned to see Sharpay looking at him with concern. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slow. "The kids in this school _suck._"

* * *

Sorry that I made Troy sound so melodramatic with that last line. I couldn't think of another way to end it.

Reviews are always appreciated (:


	6. Best Boyfriend Ever

"So has anyone ever seen this Boy Fulton?"

Sharpay looked up from her textbook. She was sitting in the library with Jason, Kelsi, and Gabriella. Kelsi was sitting next to her, working on the assignment Sharpay was pretending to be enthralled with. Instead she was texting Troy, using her textbook to shield her phone. Jason was sitting across the table, still marinating over the 'Boy Fulton' situation while Gabriella was staring at the trig notes she was supposed to be tutoring him on.

"I mean really, who names their son Boy? That's like me naming my dog Animal."

Sharpay rolled her eyes.

"Like someone naming a chocolate bar Brown."

Kelsi shook her head.

"Like… like having a capacitor and calling it Passive Electronic Component Consisting Of Dielectric Separated Conductors."

Kelsi and Sharpay's heads shot up, and even Gabriella snapped out of her trance long enough to give Jason an incredulous look. He took in their wide eyes as he leaned back in his chair, voicing his confusion with a solid, "What?"

Gabriella pat Jason's shoulder. "This coming from the boy who still can't understand the commutative property."

Sharpay looked over to the brunette. It was the first full sentence she had spoken in the thirty minutes they'd been sitting in the semi-silent room. Every couple minutes when Jason would answer a question correctly, she would say, "Good job." But other than that, nothing. It was obvious to Sharpay what she was upset about. It's not everyday you have your bedroom life spread around your high school. She looked down at her phone when it vibrated.

_what's she doing now?_

Sharpay took a peak at Gabriella through her lashes before answering.

_nothing, Troy. she hasn't moved._

It was only a few seconds before her phone vibrated again. And she did her best to answer his texts as fast as he was sending them.

_on a scale of 1 to 10, how pissed does she look?_

_6…maybe 7._

_that's not so bad. i was thinking more like 8/9._

_are you going to talk to her about it?_

_i'm going to try. i wouldn't blame her if she doesn't want to._

_don't beat yourself up. this is just as embarrassing for you and you haven't gone into hermit-mode._

Sharpay felt bad for Troy. And she felt bad for Gabriella. But maybe if she'd done what any other girl dating Troy would have done and jumped on it, she wouldn't be in this mess. Then again, Gabriella_ is_ one of the people who would seem less likely to jump their boyfriend's bones. Sharpay felt her phone vibrate.

_it's different._ Was all Troy had written.

_care to elaborate?_

_girl + long term boyfriend – sex = prude_

_are you calling your girlfriend prude?_

_i'm saying everyone else is_

Sharpay looked up from her phone as the bell rang, signaling that it was time for lunch. As everyone around her rose from their seats, Sharpay slid her phone back into her purse, closing her textbook. As she stood up from her seat, she noticed Gabriella had stayed seated. "You coming to lunch, Gabriella?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Not so hungry."

"Well, if you want to talk…" When Gabriella didn't answer, Sharpay turned to leave.

"Why would he tell people?" Sharpay turned back around. Gabriella was looking up at her now. "It's not like we haven't done… stuff." Sharpay grimaced, the thought of Troy's lips anywhere on her body too painful to imagine. "We just haven't gotten that far, yet."

"Well, why not? Don't you want to?"

"I do."

"Do you not trust him?"

"God, no! That's not it at all. Troy's perfect." Gabriella was smiling softly now, which only added to Sharpay's confusion. "But like, what if we do _it _and then he breaks up with me?" Sharpay bit her lip, knowing that if Troy wasn't such a nice guy that he'd probably break up with her if they don't do it. "And… what if I'm, you know, bad at it?"

Sharpay was so shocked that she let out a laugh. When Gabriella narrowed her eyes up at Sharpay, she regained composure. "I'm sorry, I just- seriously?" Gabriella nodded, blushing. "I'm sure you're uh, fine. Besides, it's not like he has anything to compare it to."

"To his discontent, I'm sure."

"He's not a pig, Gabriella." Sharpay shot back defensively. Gabriella eyes grew slightly wider. "I mean, he's a guy. Sex occupies ninety percent of his attention at all times."

"I just... I don't know what to do now." Gabriella slumped back in her chair, shaking her head.

Sharpay didn't know what Gabriella meant, but nonetheless, she put a gentle hand on her shoulder, mustering up as much affection as she could. "You're a smart girl. I'm sure you'll think of something."

/

Troy was an idiot. And this wasn't just in reference to the fact that he'd been sitting at his desk trying to do the same question of his history homework for a solid half hour. It was that when he'd approached Gabriella after school, in attempt to talk about the incident, he had just let her walk away. He had barely opened his mouth before she'd brushed past him like he wasn't even there. He heard his phone vibrate against the wooden desk and, thinking it was Gabriella, all but snatched the phone in his hand. He looked down at the front screen only to see a picture of Sharpay lit up. He let his heartbeat slow to a normal pace before flipping open the phone.

"Hey Sharpay."

"Hey Boy."

Despite himself, Troy smiled. Only Sharpay could lighten the situation by making a joke about exactly what was making him upset.

"How's the situation?" She continued. When Troy didn't respond she continued. "That good, huh?"

"Have you tried talking to her about it?"

"Keyword: tried. She won't speak to me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

Troy listened to the silence between them. He could hear Sharpay breathing on the other line. He wondered if she felt like this was her fault. Even though she had been the one who screamed the news in the hallway, Troy couldn't blame her. He and Gabriella's relationship had been rocky for weeks before hand. This was just the icing on top.

"You know, Troy. I could _try_ to make you feel better."

Troy heard the tone of her voice. It was an implying tone. And he knew exactly what she was implying. It was like she knew he had been thinking about what it would be like to be with her. But as much as he wanted to, he couldn't… could he?

"Sharpay, I- Gabriella?"

"Gabriella?" Sharpay's voice raised about six octaves in those four syllables.

Troy looked up and saw his supposed-to-be-pissed-off girlfriend shutting his bedroom door. He stood up from his desk, still holding his phone to his ear.

"We need to talk." Gabriella said, dropping her purse on the floor as she walked towards Troy, who stood there.

"Brie-"

"Troy. Please?" Gabriella nodded towards the phone in his hand. And for a moment Troy considered on walking out on _her_ this time.

"Shar, I'll call you back later."

"Bolton, what the fu-" Troy closed the phone on Sharpay mid-swear. He set the phone on his desk and crossed his arms as he looked back at Gabriella. "Hey."

"Hi." She smiled, walking closer to him. When she stopped advancing she was two or three inches away, looking up at his eyes. She placed a hand on his arms, uncrossing them. "I'm sorry, Wildcat."

Troy almost laughed. "What do you have to be sorry about? I'm the one who-"

Gabriella cut him off with her lips, lifting herself up on her toes. It wasn't until Gabriella slid her arms around his neck that Troy gave in and wrapped his around her waist. Was this her way of saying she didn't care about the news around East High? Better than fighting, Troy figured. He felt her arms slid down to his chest where she pushed lightly, her knees nudging him backwards.

Troy was keeping it in his mind to not get too excited. This is how it started. Gabriella came over. She used a very effective kissing attack against him, at which point whatever Troy was thinking about would go out the window. They were past that stage by now, but this time Troy's mind was otherwise occupied. Then she would push him towards the bed, at which point she would slide her hands up under his shirt, and he would lift it over his head. They were currently at the part where Gabriella would fall on top of him while pushing him on to the mattress.

_I could try to make you feel better_. The words kept echoing in Troy's head as he and Gabriella kissed. He could be talking to Sharpay right now. Or driving to her house. Or kissing her._ Jesus_. Couldn't he just focus on his current sexual endeavor like any other boy his age?

Troy slid his hands down to her hips as she pulled away, his eyes trained on hers as she pulled her t-shirt over her head and dropped it off the side of his bed. No cami this time, Troy couldn't help but notice as she leaned back down, kissing her way up his torso to his neck, the warm skin of her torso pressing against his. He turned his head, his hand gliding through her hair to pull her lips back to his. She met his lips anxiously, but once Troy's hands starting roaming further south, out of bounds, she shifted uncomfortably, lifting her lips a mere centimeter away from his. He lifted his hands off her frame like he'd just been caught shoplifting. "Alright, too much. I'm sorry." He whispered, opening his eyes.

Gabriella squinted her eyes shut, shaking her head as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. Troy's eyebrows furrowed. Within seconds he felt a damp heat press into his skin. She was crying. And Troy didn't know why. "Brie? Shit, Brie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Troy, I can't. I can't do it. I thought I could but I can't." Her muffled voice came out at a million miles an hour.

"It? What? I don't- What are you talking about?"

When Gabriella lifted her head her face was red and her eyes were wet. Troy looked into the brown eyes with concern. She shook her head as she looked back at him. "We haven't had sex."

Troy blinked. _Really? I hadn't noticed. _"What does that mean?"

"The school knows we haven't had sex."

"Brie, I'm so sorry about that. It slipped out when I was talking and a few people overheard."

Understatement of the year.

"I thought if I came here, and I told myself that you wanted this that I'd be able to, but I- I can't. I tdidn't work, I-"

"Gabriella, shh. Breathe." Troy cooed, pulling Gabriella's head back down onto his chest. "Sure, I _want_ this. But I don't _need_ it until you're ready. It's completely fine."

Gabriella let out a shaky laugh. "Stop being so nice. I'm a bad girlfriend."

"You're a great girlfriend. No one ever died from lack of sex. You saw 40 Year Old Virgin." Troy shuddered internally. _God forbid._

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

Gabriella was silent after that. She settled into the nook of his arm and curled up as a few tears continued to come from her eyes. Every once in a while Troy would lift his arm to wipe her cheeks dry. Once he felt her body stop shaking and her breathing return to normal, a sign Troy took to mean that she had fallen asleep, his phone vibrated against the top of his desk across the room. He looked down at Gabriella and then back to his phone. He carefully slid his arm out from under hers, scratching the back of his neck as he walked towards his desk. He picked up the phone, looking down at the picture on the small screen.

He flipped the phone open. "Sharpay?"

"Go open your back door?"

"My back door?"

"Did I stutter?" Troy rolled his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me, just get back here. It's cold."

Troy looked back at his bed as he closed his phone and set it back on the desk. He slid out of his bedroom and quietly made his way through the house until he reached the backdoor. He could see Sharpay through the small window. He opened the door to find her standing with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked up with him with a hint of seriousness in her gaze.

"Troy, I- Why are you shirtless?"

Troy looked down. He'd forgotten to put his shirt back on. "Oh, I was-"

"Nevermind, it's not important. Troy. I have to tell you something."

Sharpay could understand the confused look on Troy's face. She was confused as to why she was here, too. Troy had a girlfriend. He didn't want to be bothered with a little crush. Or…a big crush. Standing on his doorstep right now was making her rethink the entire plan of telling him. What if he laughed at her? What if he thought it was weird?

"Tell me what?"

_Oh god, he is definitely going to think it's weird._ Sharpay let out a nervous laugh and looked down at her feet. "Troy, for my sake, please don't laugh until I'm out of ear-range."

Troy looked at the top of Sharpay's head. He took a step closer. "Shar-"

"I like you."

"You like me?"

Sharpay looked up at him. The whole repeating thing was really getting old. "I _really_ like you. And I know you love Gabriella. But she's torturing you, Troy. Besides the obvious sexual abandonment, I mean. She fights with you. Every other day. And about what? The most insignificant minute reasons. You didn't call her when you said you would, you fell asleep after practice when you were supposed to go over her house... It's nonsense and you know it. And I'm not trying to confuse you, I just…"

She looked away as she trailed off. What was she doing? He was just standing there. Less than two feet in front of her. With those fucking glorious blue eyes staring at her like she had five heads. "This was a horrible idea. I'm sorry, Bolton. Just pretend I never said anything."

As she turned to leave she felt a hand grab her wrist. She looked back to see Troy holding onto her arm, looking down at his feet. Sharpay took in a breath as she slowly stepped closer to him.

"Gabriella can't know."

"About what?" Sharpay's forehead creased as Troy slowly looked back up at her. There was barely a moment's hesitation before his arm slid around her and his lips were on hers. Sharpay almost collapsed before responding. Partly due to the fact that Troy Bolton was kissing her and the other part because he was fucking _fantastic_ at it. She lifted her arms over his shirtless shoulders, her hands moving to brush her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

Troy knew this was wrong. Gabriella was in the other room. If by chance she happened to wake up, realize he wasn't there and come looking for him he'd be screwed. Actually, he'd be dumped. But then again, that'd mean that he could start dating Sharpay and kiss her like this whenever he wanted to. Her fingertips were giving him goose bumps and her lip gloss tasted like watermelon. Normally he hated kissing gloss covered lips, but for as good a kisser as Sharpay was he could make an exception. Despite how much he was enjoying it he loosened his hold on her waist and pulled back.

Troy couldn't help but smirk as Sharpay's eyes beamed up at him. She bit the corner of her lip and opened to her mouth to say something just as Gabriella's voice interrupted. "Troy?"

Sharpay's eyes mimicked Troy's as they grew about ten times in size. "Fuck." Troy whispered, removing his arms from Sharpay, who was apparently disappointed from the loss of contact. "Shar. Stay. Don't move."

Sharpay watched as Troy turned to close the door as he walked back into the kitchen. She put her hand out to stop the door from closing. "Troy." He turned to look at her. "Come to my house. We'll talk." Troy nodded urgently and Sharpay silently pulled the back door shut. Sharpay couldn't help the skip in her step as she walked back to her car.

Troy walked through the hallway to his room to find Gabriella standing with her purse outside Troy's bedroom door. He tried to nonchalantly wipe the shimmer off his lips before he got too close. "I have to go." She smiled, her arms going around his torso and pulling herself towards him for a hug. "Before my mom figures out I'm gone."

Troy wrapped his arms around her shoulders, swallowing the lump of guilt in his throat."Alright."

She looked up at him, and her innocent brown eyes made Troy's brain shout: _Cheater! Cheater!_ She stood up on her toes as she tilted her head up for a kiss. Troy leaned down, meeting her lips softly. "Best." Kiss. "Boyfriend." Kiss. "Ever."

Troy did his best to smile as she pulled away. "Hardly."

/

Sharpay had been watching Troy as he walked back and forth in front of her bed for the past three minutes. Evidently his conscience had finally caught up with him. _God, why did he have to be so nice?_

"She said I was the best boyfriend ever." He mumbled, his hand running through his hair.

"And you put a shirt on before coming over. I wonder who's more disappointed." Troy let out an almost inaudible laugh as he continued on walking. "Troy, _relax_." Sharpay called out to Troy. He stopped pacing and looked over at her crossed legged position on her bed.

"Sorry." Troy said, letting out a breath. He went over and took a seat next to her. They sat there in silence for a few moments as Sharpay stared at Troy's profile. Suddenly, she scooted backwards and took a lying position, resting her head on the pillows. The movement got a reaction from Troy as he turned to look at her.

"Come here, Bolton." Sharpay smirked, patting the open space next to her. A soft smile crossed Troy's face and he shook his head, falling back next to Sharpay.

Sharpay turned her head to look at him. Troy kept his eyes focused on the ceiling above head, and Sharpay knew he was thinking about Gabriella. She didn't like it. She didn't like Troy being with Gabriella. She didn't like Troy being miserable. It made her miserable. She knew once Troy left he would go back into the bedroom and Gabriella's scent would torture him. She used her elbow to gently nudge his arm, capturing his attention. "You can stay here tonight, if you want."

Troy stayed still, looking at her for a moment before he turned onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow. Sharpay smiled up at him, loving the serene look on his face. His eyes scanned her face, from her lips back to her eyes. He leaned forward and pressed a soft lingering kiss on her lips, at which Sharpay placed a hand on his cheek. He kept his face close to hers when he pulled back, and Sharpay practically melted when he took the hand and held it in his. "Thank you."

Sharpay grinned. _No Troy Bolton, thank you._


	7. The L Word

"Your hair feels thicker."

"That's a mop head, Troy."

"Well… That would explain it."

Sharpay felt the air behind Troy's head, reaching for the string that would turn the light on. Once it was in between her fingers she gave it a tug, lighting up the small room. "This is ridiculous."

"No." Troy smirked. " This is a broom closet."

Sharpay used her ring finger to wipe stray gloss from around her lips. There was some on her neck that had jumped ship from Troy's lips, but with being pressed between his body and a broom closet door, she wasn't too worried about it. For the past four days, ever since he'd spent the night, this had been their normal meet up spot for the middle of last period. Not one of Sharpay's better ideas, but smelling like lemon Clorox for the next hour was a small price to pay to be making out with Troy Bolton. To have Troy Bolton nipping at your shoulder. To have Troy Bolton's hands caressing you…

The only hitch was having Troy Bolton's ever-present girlfriend lurking the school hallways.

Sharpay pouted. "If you just picked one of us we wouldn't be here."

"Shar."

"I know. I'm sorry. I just-" Sharpay let out a sigh and let her head fall forward.. "You're going to have to tell her sooner or later."

"I know that." Troy confirmed, nudging her chin upwards with his knuckles to meet his eyes. God those eyes. It took all of Sharpay's strength not to melt against him. "But right now I'm here with you." He slid his hand to cup her cheek, pressing his mouth to hers. Sharpay snaked an arm around his neck, drawing him closer. When his other hand curled around her waist and held tight, she smiled against his lips. Who was she kidding? She was a pile of butter right now. Once she had gone as long as she could playing tag with Troy's tongue, she pulled back for a breath. Troy tilted his head forward, leaning his forehead against hers. "Isn't that enough?"

Sharpay brushed her fingers through the hair at the nape of Troy's neck. She felt him shiver slightly despite the ever-growing heat in the cramped closet. "For now."

She tiptoed up to place a lingering kiss on his swollen lips, hating that they were in school and not at home where they could do _this_ for as long as they wanted without anyone interrupting. Maybe more. Wait, _more_? Oh god, Troy was turning her into a horny high school teenager. "Come on," She whispered as she pulled away, interlacing her fingers with his and squeezing. "Before the teachers get curious."

/

"Dude, are you wearing lip gloss?"

Troy swiped the back of his hand over his lips. Shit. He thought he'd gotten all of it off. "Chapstick. My, uh, my lips were dry."

"Dude, I won't judge. That stuff smells good and it's shiny and makes your lips super smooth and…" Troy raised an eyebrow at Jason. Jason stared back. "Or... you know. So I hear..."

"I'm almost positive that it's chapstick."

Luckily Jason was easy to believe what he was told, as opposed to say Chad or Zeke. He just shrugged and looked back at the map of Europe they were supposed to be labeling with the countries created after the first World War. Ten more minutes of class passed without any work accomplished. The sound of the bell ringing was the only thing to temporarily distract Troy. The only topic on his mind was Sharpay. And Gabriella. And kissing Sharpay when he should be kissing Gabriella. And kissing Gabriella when he wants to kiss Sharpay. He had no idea how he was going to get through the rest of the semester like this.

He'd barely taken two steps out of the classroom when a pair of arms snaked over his dark blue polo and squeezed. Luckily, he'd trained himself to recognize the difference between Sharpay's arms and Gabriella's arm. When Gabriella hugged, she squeezed him with her fists closed and kissed his back over his shirt. When Sharpay hugged, she slid her palms over his abs and pressed her cheek against his back. He wasn't sure which he preferred- they both felt pretty good to him. But the lips that just pressed into his back told him it was Gabriella. He did a quick swipe over his lips with his forearm to make sure all traces of eh, Chapstick, were gone before turning around.

"Hey Brie," He grinned, transferring his books to his other hand and draping his free arm around Gabriella's tiny shoulders. "How was Calculus?"

"Same old." Gabriella smiled as Troy pressed his lips to the side of her head. "History?"

Troy blinked. _Well the highlight was the ten-minute make out session in between the lesson and labeling the map_. "Same old." He repeated.

"Do you want to hang out tonight?" Gabriella asked, snuggling into Troy's side as they turned the corner.

"Mmm, what were you thinking?"

"I don't know…" Troy pulled his arm back, ready to open his locker. Gabriella had other plans, apparently, tugging at his arm so that his back was to the locker. "Dinner?" Troy nodded. Food. Yes. Good. He turned his head, stuffing his history stuff onto one of the metal shelves in the tiny locker. He felt Gabriella's body weight lean against him and he looked back at her, her brown eyes much closer than they had been five seconds ago. He raised an eyebrow down at his girlfriend as she slid her arms around his neck. "Dessert?"

Was it a terrible thing if he wasn't horribly excited for whatever Gabriella had planned? The night could unfold in two ways. One: they would order in pizza or Chinese and then make out for a little bit. Two: they would order pizza or Chinese and then go get ice cream. Either way, the possibility of take out got Troy excited. He grinned and leaned down to meet her lips. "Sounds good."

He felt her fingers tracing circles at the back of his neck as she kept on her toes to reach his lips. Troy let his arms routinely wrap around her waist. "Break it up, slobber hounds. This is East High, not Lovers Peak."

Gabriella pulled away suddenly, blushing violently as she turned to the voice. "Oh. Hi, Sharpay." She seemed to relax visibly when she realized it was only Sharpay walking towards them. Troy wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and Gabriella leaned her cheek against Troy's chest. Troy noticed Sharpay's jaw clench at the movement. Her brown eyes finally met his and she raised a light eyebrow at him. Troy swallowed the awkwardness in his throat: the awkward I'm-trying-to-be-a-good-boyfriend-but-the-girl-I-want-to-kiss-is-two-feet-away-watching-us awkwardness.

"Anyway. Troy, I was hoping you could come over tonight and we could work on our Spanish dialogue."

Translation in Sharpay biting her lip: I was hoping you could over tonight and we could work on our Spanish dialogue for three seconds and then make out for an hour.

"Brie and I just made plans. Maybe tomorrow?"

Translation in Troy's arched eyebrow: Don't tempt me while I'm trying to be a good boyfriend.

"Oh. Yeah, sure." Sharpay paused, mustering up her acting talents as a frail smile came to her face. "I'm sure I can figure it out by myself for a night."

Translation in that smile: Feel guilty, Gabriella.

Gabriella looked up at Troy. "We can hang out tomorrow, Troy. It's not a big deal." Bingo! "I'm sure Sharpay needs you more than I do."

Translation in the smirk Sharpay flashed Troy: Damn straight I do.

/

"How do you _do_ that?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Bolton."

"You can play innocent around everyone else." Troy's voice was suddenly very close and Sharpay could feel his breath on her ear and his arms around her waist. "But I know better."

Sharpay bit her lip as Troy kissed under her ear softly. Had Troy _really_ never had sex before? Because he had the seducing part down a fucking T. She felt like she was being touched by Fabio- without his long hair getting in the way. She turned around in his strong basketball arms, placing her palms on his chest and looking up at him. "You think you're so- Jesus _Christ_, Troy, please tell me that's your _phone_ that's vibrating."

Troy rolled his blue eyes, keeping an arm around Sharpay. He pulled his phone from his pocket while she smirked and grabbed his polo with clenched fists, pulling him backwards towards the bed. Troy didn't bother to look at the caller ID while Sharpay turned and pushed him back against the mattress. "Hello?" He managed to get out before Sharpay kissed him.

"Troy? Hi, it's me."

Was it Troy, or did the room just get _very_ uncomfortable?

Sharpay must've heard Gabriella's voice because she pulled back and looked at the phone in his hand. "Quiero… mire.. los dulces con.. la biblioteca."

Gabriella's laugh sounded from the other side. "She wants to have watched the sweets with the library? What kind of dialogue are you guys working on?"

"She meant to say…" Troy trailed off, Sharpay shrugged. "I don't know. I think she's been hanging around Jason too much."

Sharpay swatted Troy's chest, and then proceeded to bury her face in the nook of Troy's neck. Bad idea for two reasons. One, Troy was ticklish. Two, it was going to be hard to concentrate on talking to Gabriella. Girlfriend Gabriella. Sweet Gabriella _Trusting_ Gabriella.

Troy closed his eyes, unsure of whom he was trying to block out at the moment. "I just called to tell you Taylor told me about prom tickets. On sale tomorrow. That is… if you were planning on taking me."

He could have sworn he felt Sharpay's lips curve into a devious smile as they made their way up his jawbone. "Of course. Who else would I take?" His arm involuntary tightened around Sharpay's torso.

"Nice invitation, Troy. Very romantic."

"Tell her you've only got room for one snippy girl at a time, " Sharpay whispered into Troy's ear.

"Shh. Be nice."

"Be nice to who?" Even though Sharpay couldn't see Gabriella, she could practically picture the confused look on her face. She nipped at his shoulder before she buried her face into Troy's skin to hide the victorious grin on her face.

"Sorry. Sharpay- She's… she's mad at her lip gloss."

"You want her to be nice to her make-up?"

"Well, it's a nice flavor." Troy didn't realize what he'd said until Sharpay looked up at him with her brown eyes locked in an incredulous gaze. "Shade! Brand. I meant- uh, I don't know. What do girls look for in lip gloss exactly?"

"Are you okay?"

"Fine." If fine meant horribly guilty.

There was a silence before Gabriella spoke again. An uncomfortable silence where all he could hear was Gabriella breathing on the other line and all he could see was Sharpay staring at him questioningly. "I'll let you get back to Sharpay then. Call you later?"

"Okay."

"Love you, Wildcat."

"You too."

He clapped the phone closed and looked at Sharpay, half on top of him, while she stared back. "I should go."

Sharpay searched Troy's eye for a moment, narrowing hers slightly. "You don't want to."

"No. I don't."

"Troy, what's the matter?"

"Nothing. Besides the fact that I'm the biggest asshole and worst boyfriend ever."

"I'm not complaining."

"You wouldn't be, would you? But if you were Gabriella-"

"Troy."

"Shar."

They stayed there staring at each other for what felt like twenty minutes. Finally, Sharpay broke eye contact and rolled away from Troy, walking over to the door. She pulled it open and gestured out to the hallway. "Go. If you're going to be hung up on-" Sharpay swallowed Gabriella's name down her throat. She couldn't say it. "_her_, then go. Have dinner or go to the movies or whatever the hell it was you had planned before I so _rudely_ intervened."

Troy sat up on the bed, his eyes permanently locked on Sharpay's. Even from across the room she could see them perfectly. "Sharpay."

"You obviously want to be with her. You obviously can't stop thinking about her. And I'm obviously just a phase you've grown out of."

Troy stood up, a hint of pain behind his creased forehead. "Sharpay, you're-"

"I hope you two have a happy life together. You and your… picket fence house and science fair children. Eventually she'll realize that you have a birthmark behind your right ear. That if you kiss the birthmark, the muscles in your arm tense up. Or that right before you close your locker you look up and down the hallway, like you're being watched. That you're, probably, the only guy in our class to use shampoo that smells like strawberry. Or that by the end of the day you have the tiniest hint of five o'clock shadow. That while kissing you, you like the hair at the back of your neck played with. Or that right before you wake up, like _three_ _seconds_ before, you start mumbling because you're coming out of a dream." Sharpay hadn't realized how hard she'd been gripping the doorknob until she looked down and saw her white knuckles. She took in a quiet breath, not sure of where all of what she said had come from. She wished she could take it back. She'd said too much. She wanted to go back in time and stop herself before she could start. Her heart was beating like crazy and her mouth was dry. Her stomach felt like she's just drank Coke and ate some mentos. Her mind was racing. Wait. Weren't those the symptoms of the disease commonly referred to as… as…

Love?

She looked up and met Troy's eyes. _Fuck_.

Her tone noticeably softened when she said, "But then again, you've been together for two years. I'm sure she knows all of that."

"Maybe." Troy took a careful step closer, like he was approaching something dangerous. And Sharpay in love _was_ dangerous. Very very very dangerous. "But if she has, she's never made it known."

Sharpay didn't know why, but something inside the pit of her stomach was causing tears to well up in her eyes. She blinked them back before Troy could notice in his careful advances. "Just go. Please." She mumbled. All she wanted was to figure out what she was feeling. How she could stop it. And if she even wanted to.

Troy opened his mouth to say something, and Sharpay swallowed her anxiety down again. After a few seconds he gave a defeated nod and walked out of the door without saying anything more. No protests. Nothing. A small piece of Sharpay was disappointed but she closed the door behind him nonetheless. She let out a dramatically loud grunt as she leaned back against the white door and slide down to the bottom. Love? No. Sharpay Evans was not in love. She just liked sneaking behind Gabriella's back. And kissing Troy. And touching Troy. And being with Troy. And having Troy give her that you're-the-only-person-in-the-room look. And thinking about Troy. And… Maybe she was in love.

Not that he was going to find out about it.

She was screwed. Troy wasn't going to break up with Gabriella. They were going to grow up together, get married, have kids, and be that stereotypical Americana family. Troy already knew that she liked him. She'd stood on his doorstep and told him. Told him that she really liked him. But this was different. This was love. She could barely handle seeing Troy and Gabriella together when she only liked him. She couldn't even fathom how hard it was going to be now that she'd fallen in love. Stupid Troy Bolton. Stupid Troy Bolton and his easily lovable personality. Sharpay pushed herself up from the plush carpet and started over towards her bed. She was planning on falling face first into the pillow and sleeping this feeling off- if that would even work. Her mind would probably just torture her with dreams of Troy Bolton.

She heard someone knock on the door behind her and she turned around slowly. Was it Troy? Did he come back? Was she going to think every knock on the door from now on was from him? She took a slow breath and held it as she pulled the door open. There he was. Standing there. Smiling at her like there was nothing wrong.

"Mom and dad went off to Dubai. They told me to-"

Sharpay let out her breath, "Ugh! Ry, I don't care if they went to fucking _Fiji_!"

Ryan looked confused as the door was shut in his face. Sharpay banged her head on the door lightly. "Pull it together, Sharpay, you're going crazy."

She heard another knock on the door and she pulled it open. "What, Ryan? I'm not in the mood."

"Just wondering why you're not inviting Troy in. But _whatever_."

Sharpay didn't even have time to roll her eyes at her brother. They were too busy looking out into the hallway and seeing Troy leaning next to her door. He looked away from Ryan and met her confused stare. He stood up straighter, looking down at his feet. "I figured I'd wait it out. I mean," He looked up at her. "You had to come out of your room sometime, right?"

Sharpay didn't blink. Didn't smile. Didn't move towards him. Nothing. She was too afraid that if she did, he'd somehow know that her feelings had changed- gotten deeper. "And what if I hadn't come out."

He shrugged, shifting his weight on his feet. "I suppose I would've came in."

Sharpay couldn't help herself. He was too cute. And he wasn't even trying. He was just… _being Troy_. And she _loved_ it. That's why she couldn't help herself from pulling Troy over and down to meet her lips. Okay. So she loved Troy Bolton. Now she just had to get Troy Bolton to love her back.

Using any means necessary.


	8. Kitten Heels

I know it's short, but I hadn't updated this in so long I figured something was better than nothing... amiright?

Review (:

* * *

"You said she looked fat?"

"No. Okay. Listen… we were in her room and she walks out of the closet wearing some green flowery dress. She looks at me and asks 'This doesn't make me look fat, does it?' -and mind you I'm sitting there, starving and innocent, just wanting to go get dinner- so I said 'You look _fine_' and-"

"Ah, hold up. Right there."

"What?"

"You never tell us we look _fine_ if we ask you the fat question."

Troy leaned his head back against the locker he was standing in front of. He felt like banging his head against the cold metal, because maybe then he'd be able to figure out why these fights with Gabriella were still going on. He just closed his eyes and sighed dramatically. "Why do you even have to ask? You know you aren't."

"We like being reassured."

"It's just so... _stupid_. I should have went to Chad, you don't understand."

"You were going to go to Chad? About _girl advice_? Troy…"

Sharpay shook her head slowly and Troy did his best not to laugh. She was right. As good a best friend as Chad was, he wasn't exactly a female mastermind. "Have you tried to patch things up? It's been what, two days?"

"Three. I tried calling but she wouldn't pick up. So I picked up tickets at lunch and figured it might soften her up."

"Tickets?" Sharpay blinked, her hand balling into a fist. "To… the prom?"

Troy nodded, reaching into his back pocket. Sharpay recognized the light ivory slips of paper before she even saw the fine black calligraphy. She remembered the other day, when Troy and Gabriella were on the phone. She had known this was coming- he asking Gabriella to prom- but it felt weird to actually see the invitations in his hand. For one of them not to be for her. Sharpay starting drifting into her own little fantasy, where she and Troy were stepping out of the limo in front of The Regency hotel with all their friends. She'd look down at her corsage-d wrist and wrap her arms around Troy's neck as they shared their Prom King and Queen dance. Then they'd share a kiss… and they wouldn't care if anyone saw because they were so obviously meant to be together. When she floated back to reality she noticed Troy staring down at her clenched fist. His blue eyes found their way up to hers. "What's the matter?"

_God, you're so oblivious._

Sharpay plastered on her best acting smile. "Nothing."

Troy's face faltered for a moment and he looked down at the paper in his hand. "Girls like dances, don't they?"

"Most of us, yes. But this isn't just a dance, Bolton. This is _prom_. I don't know about Gabriella but I've been dreaming about it since the sixth grade."

"Have you really?"

"Of course. I have it all planned out."

"Can I try to guess the details?" Troy grinned like a knowing little boy as he replaced the tickets in the back pockets of his jeans. Sharpay raised an eyebrow. "Give it a try."

"Well… you're definitely not going for a puffy dress. I'm thinking something form fitted in some eye-catching color. Not pink, though… No, because that's what people would expect. Maybe white? And then a matching corsage." Sharpay bit the inside of her lower lip and Troy stood up straighter, examining Sharpay's face. Luckily, Sharpay had trained herself throughout her years on the stage to control her blushing. If she hadn't, Troy's close proximity in the wide-open hallway would have made her turn beet red. "Long black limo. Tall, dark, and handsome date with matching tie. Prom queen. Dancing the entire time. Hotel room party afterwards…" Troy paused, and Sharpay couldn't tell if he was thinking something over or thinking about how completely love struck she must look. She _so_ hoped it wasn't the latter. Or maybe if he noticed it, he'd give up prom with Gabriella and go with her instead. Instead he hovered, three inches away from her, leaving Sharpay to focus on breathing correctly. How could Troy be so calm about this? Did he not feel the electrical currents zipping in between the two of them at that very moment? "How'd I do?"

Sharpay pulled herself together as she saw Troy's eyes flickering wildly back and forth from her eyes, to her lips, and back. She smirked and closed the gap, pressing a short kiss on his lips, wishing they weren't in the hallway. "Gold dress. White corsage. Gold tie. But good try."

Troy's voice dropped to a coarse whisper as his hand slid to cup the side of her neck, his thumb gliding softly across her cheek. In that moment he just wished they were alone. Not alone as in we're-alone-in-the-school-hallway alone. Alone as in deserted tropical island. Where it was just them. And getting chapped lips from kissing too much was the only thing he had to worry about. "I'll keep that in mind."

He couldn't stand the hidden hurt behind Sharpay's brown eyes. He knew it was there. He wanted it gone. He just wished he didn't have to hurt Gabriella for that to happen. "Don't waste a mental note on me."

"Shar-"

She looked up, shaking her head, a smile full of forced understanding on her lips. "Troy, you already bought tickets. It's too late."

"Don't say that. It's not. We can… I mean, I can-"

Sharpay, very suddenly, pushed at Troy's chest, separating herself from him. She started giggling and for a second Troy thought she had gone mental. "_Stop it_, Troy. I'm ticklish."

Troy's eyebrows knotted together as Sharpay's laugh slowed. He noticed her eyes darting pointedly to her left, and when he turned he saw Ryan and Gabriella exiting a classroom with the rest of the science club. It was only at these times when Troy realized how much of a nerd Gabriella was- not that it was a bad thing… just… _different_. Gabriella looked like she was trying her hardest to maintain an irritated face as she stared at Troy. She and Ryan stopped a few steps in front of Sharpay and himself. She glared, her soft eyes giving her real emotions away. "What do you want, Troy?"

"I wanted to say I was sorry." Troy answered calmly. Sharpay rolled her eyes. She didn't need to hear any of this. Gabriella folded her arms. "For what? Ruining our night? Calling me fat?"

Troy locked his jaw. He was going to ignore the fact that she was blaming absolutely all of this nothing on him. He softened up. "All for which I'm planning to make up to you."

"I don't see how," she scoffed.

"I was thinking prom would be a good way to start?"

Gabriella uncrossed her arms slowly, looking skeptically at her boyfriend. Sharpay wanted to cover her ears. This was all too painful to hear. "Don't do me any favors."

"I'm not. Brie, I love you. You know I do." Troy reached out for one of Gabriella's fallen hands, pulling her towards him. "I _know_ you know I do. You're my girl."

Sharpay covered her mouth. She could practically feel the bile rising up in her throat. She needed to get out of the hallway and away from Troy's fucked up relationship lies. _Now. _Hearing Troy refer to Gabriella as 'my girl' was bad enough. Seeing Troy's _girl_ smile and throw her arms around his neck, her lips landing flat against his set her over the edge. She spun on her heel and speed-walked down the hallway, the heels of her boots echoing against the lockers. "You coming, Ryan?" She managed to call back, Ice Queen tone in place.

Well. So much for trying to get Troy to love her.

/

"I'm not speaking to you."

"Then why did you pick up the phone?"

Sharpay pressed her face into her pillow. Her stupid Troy's-strawberry-shampoo-smelling pillow. _Because I wanted to hear your voice_, that's_ why._ "…Shar?" She lifted her head up and glared at the headboard in font of her. "To let you know that I'm not speaking to you. Good bye, Troy."

"Sharpay, wait-"

Sharpay pressed End and threw her phone on the couch next to her bed. Stupid Troy. Stupid Gabriella. Stupid _heart_. Why did you have to be in love with-

"You really shouldn't hang up on people. For someone who didn't know you better, it could come across as rude."

Sharpay turned her head towards the door. "Rude? You're the one walking into closed bedrooms uninvited."

"I wasn't planning on it." Troy leaned back against the door for a second, staring into Sharpay's glistening brown eyes. He pushed his phone into his front pocket, and Sharpay glared at him until he sat down on the couch. His strong blue eyes bore into her brown ones. Who was she kidding? She couldn't stay mad at a face like that. Time to do some more acting. "Want to tell me what's going on?"

"Want to tell me how you got in here?"

"Want to answer my question?"

"No." Sharpay pressed her fingers into her pillow, hoping Troy wouldn't notice.

He did.

"Sharpay…" Troy said slowly, pushing himself up from the couch. She turned her head away from him. "Stop it, Troy."

"Shar… " He neared the bed, leaning a knee against the plush mattress. Sharpay didn't move. "Don't do it."

He smirked, filling his voice with innocence. "Do what?"

"I mean it, Bolton. I'm ser-" In a swift motion, Troy managed to rotate Sharpay by the hips so that she was on her back, barely managing to catch a glimpse of his blue eyes before she was effectively cut off by the pressure of Troy's lips on hers. She was going to protest… in a few more seconds. Minutes.

An hour or two at most.

She pulled him closer by the sides of his shirt and felt his weight on top of her as she tugged him on top of her. It's amazing how relaxed and blissful you can be while sword-fighting someone with your tongue. Also amazing is how sad you get when the battle stops short. She opened her eyes, staring up at Troy, who was staring over at the door, which he hadn't managed to close. She looked at the empty hallway and then back up at Troy, moving her hands under the hem of his shirt. "You're _killing _me, Bolton."

"I heard a voice."

She rolled her eyes. That's why he killed the moment? She was starting to rethink her position on forgiving him. "Ryan's bedroom is down the hall."

Troy turned his head, looking down at Sharpay, whose eyebrow was cocked in expectation. "It wasn't a guy's voice."

"Maybe Kelsi's here? I don't know." She guessed, dropping her hands. He'd gone and killed the moment with his paranoid Nixon ears. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs and sighed. It was probably Ryan coming upstairs from the kitchen. But wait- Ryan didn't wear kitten heels. Sharpay knew who wore kitten heels. She just didn't know what the hell she was doing in her house. "_Off_, Troy."

He looked as confused as Sharpay felt when she pushed his torso away from hers, and forced herself up into a seated position. Troy turned and looked towards the open door, hearing the heels clicking against the wood finished floors of the hallway. _Click_. Closer. _Clack_. Almost there. _Click_-

"And that's when I said, no you can't wear the orange vest, are you kidding me? The things is hideous enough on it's own without it being such a horrid color. And look what the bitch said-" Sharpay saw two figures pass past her doorframe from her peripherals as Troy turned to look down at the phone she'd grabbed into her hands. There was nothing on the iPhone's screen except her illuminated front wallpaper, of course, which just happened to be a picture of her dog Boi asleep on top of Troy who was asleep on her couch. He hadn't known she'd taken that picture. He turned his amused blue eyes up on her and smiled. Sharpay fought back hers, smiling through her eyes.

"Troy?"

Smiling over.

_No, Gabriella. You're not supposed to be here. This is Sharpay time._ Troy grinned as his girlfriend took a step into Sharpay's bedroom, looking around. God, he was a horrible person. "Hey, Brie."

"What are you doing here?"

Troy blinked. That wasn't important. Sharpay closed her phone and put it down on her left side, surreptitiously sliding closer to Troy on her right. Gabriella was too busy staring Troy down to notice. "I'm catching Troy up on his gossip."

Gabriella's brown eyes were innocent but suspicious as they flickered between the two on the bed. "His... Gossip?"

"You're not- Well, how can I put this nicely…" Sharpay crossed her left leg over her right and placed her hand behind her to peer across at Gabriella. A shiver ran through her as her fingers unintentionally brushed over the hand Troy was using to support himself with on the mattress. She didn't pull her hand away, making the extra effort not to grin when he snaked his fingers in between hers. Maybe Gabriella would get the hint that they were in the middle of something by the way that their shoulders were brushing against one another's. Sharpay almost wished Gabriella _could_ see the way Troy's thumb was smoothing over her knuckle- a move she knew he was only doing to keep her relaxed and not turn Ice Queen on his… ech… _girlfriend._ "You're not exactly on the same social tier as Troy and I. We have secrets to exchange and people to talk about. You understand."

Troy's stomach turned at the mention of the word 'secret'. It was like those two syllables were a broken record ringing through his ears every time he was near Gabriella. "It's not a big deal," he falsely reassured the brunette.

She shifted on her feet, uncomfortable and bothered. Ryan stood behind her, silently watching the conversation with his arm leaning against the doorframe. "Couldn't you gossip with Chad or something?"

Sharpay scoffed, "Like anyone tells Chad anything. He may as well be a nerd like-"

Troy squeezed her hand and Sharpay caught herself, tucking in her lips and smirking. He looked at his girlfriend almost sympathetically, "A guy needs girl friends."

Sharpay squeezed Troy's hand, softer than he had hers. Girl… friend… _Girlfriend_.

"Here I was thinking I filled that spot."

"I can only be friends with one girl at a time?" Troy didn't mean to sound so irritated. He just hated when girls did this. They got all clingy and possessive. That wasn't Gabriella. She wasn't that girl. And he certainly wasn't the kind of guy who would let a girl rule his life. If that's how this was going to be, he knew how to handle it. And then he could be with Sharpay…. Win-win!... Gabriella's eyes went back to Sharpay, looking her up and down quickly. "But why Sharpay?"

Sharpay felt Troy's fingers press into hand again, like he knew she was about to rip Gabriella a new one. Fine, she'd play nice. At least for a little while. "Why _not_ Sharpay?"

"Gabriella, don't-" Ryan started, fully aware that in any normal situation his sister would have verbally ripped her to shreds already.

"Don't pretend like the whole school doesn't know you have the biggest crush on him." Gabriella scoffed, putting on her I'm-not-scared-of-you façade. It was a meager attempt though, seeing as her I'm-totally-freaking-out eyes were on full force. "I get straight A's, I'm not an idiot."

Sharpay smirked. _That's what you think._ "If I wanted Troy, don't you think I could have him?"

Troy turned his head slightly, catching Sharpay's eye for a moment before she looked back to Gabriella. "You're not his type," she said confidently.

Oh, how ready Sharpay was to tear this girl into itty bitty pieces of nothing. "That so?"

"Yes." Gabriella affirmed quietly, tucking hair behind her ear. "He can't like someone like you and love someone like me."

Troy closed his eyes. This was a nightmare. It had to be. This was just a very _very_ bad dream. There was no way this confrontation was happening right now. Right in front of him. No fucking way. Beyond his closed, disbelieving lids, the two girls were still continuing on their quest for dominance. "I've known Troy since age six, Montez. I'd like to think I know what he likes."

"And that's clearly not you."

Sharpay's free hand balled into a fist at her side. "I'm sorry, did you think we've been strictly friends the entire time? Don't think you're the only person who knows his mouth tastes like a stick of spearmint gum."

"It's his toothpaste."

"That he had a dog named Skipper and can't watch the Frankie Munez movie without getting emotional."

"Because he got hit by a FedEx truck."

"That there are exactly twenty six pictures featuring me on the collage above his desk. And that at least eleven of which involve us touching in some way or another? Speaking of, have you seen his cell phone's gallery lately? "

Troy could practically hear the color draining from Gabriella's rosy cheeks. What the fuck was Sharpay doing? Why wasn't he stopping it? He opened his eyes and looked up. The brunette shook her head. "You're lying."

Sharpay pushed her hair over her shoulder, "How else would I know?"

"Then tell me why he never asked _you_ out, Sharpay. Hm? Why is he dating me and not you right now? If he obviously finds so much delight in your company..."

Sharpay bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling. It was so sad how little this girl knew. Troy wouldn't mind if she gave a little hint, would he? Of course not… "Put it this way. You were the shiny new toy who opened Troy up. You opened his eyes to this world he didn't knew he belonged in. If he gave you away to the Salvation Army he would have lost what he'd accomplished."

Gabriella shook her head slowly. "That's the worst metaphor I've ever heard."

Troy gave Sharpay's hand another warning squeeze, but it was no use. She was already in too far. It was like trying to reel in a whale shark. Not to imply she was fat. He wasn't about to get into another fight about _that_. "At least I'm not constantly jerking him around. 'I love you, Troy'. 'Leave me alone, Troy'. 'I'm so sorry, Troy'. 'Go away, Troy'. What the fuck kind of sick definition of healthy relationship do you have in your head? Google it, genius girl."

"How do you…" Gabriella's voice cracked slightly, more out of anger than anguish. She locked eyes with Troy. "You tell her when we're fighting?"

Troy shrugged a shoulder. "Who else can try to explain to me the reason a simple 'You look fine' sparks reason for a three day silent treatment?"

"Talk to _me_, Troy. I'm the other half of this relationship."

"How _can_ I if you're giving me the silent treatment? It's not like I didn't call you, wait by your locker... I tried, Brie."

"Not hard enough."

"I shouldn't have to move mountains to talk to my girlfriend."

"I'm not asking you to move- _God_… You've changed, Troy."

"Wonder why." Sharpay mumbled to no one in particular.

"I'm sorry, Sharpay, who asked you?" Gabriella snapped uncharacteristically, turning irritatedly to the blonde. "I didn't even know you two were friends. It's not like Troy ever mentions he's hanging out with you."

"Perhaps he knew it would spark an argument like this one?"

"Perhaps we need to go talk about it by ourselves." She countered, holding her hand out to her boyfriend. Troy looked at it, and then back up at her. "Come on, Troy."

"Gabriella-"

"You don't own him, Montez." Sharpay said casually, her face plain despite her growing annoyance. Could she just leave, already? What the fuck was she even doing here? Couldn't she and Ryan be nerds elsewhere? Just another reason to hate her: she turned her brother into a geek.

"Sharpay, Troy can speak for himself… Troy?" Gabriella shook her hand with emphasis, looking slightly nervous, like she wasn't sure what was happening.

"Gabriella, I'm not walking out on Sharpay in her own house. You can be rude, but I have better manners than that."

Sharpay had to hold back a laugh as smoke practically blew out of Gabriella's angered ears. She dropped her hand and looked at Sharpay, shaking her head. "Fine." She turned back to Troy. "Go to prom by yourself."

Ryan backed into the hallway before Gabriella slammed the door shut. Troy rolled his eyes as he fell back on the bed, hand still firmly clasped around Sharpay's. She squeezed his fingers and fell back, too. She rolled over so that she was half on top of him, leaning her chin on top of her free hand, and the hand on top of his chest. She examined his face, wanting to kiss him but feeling like it wouldn't accomplish anything. She turned her head and rested it over his heart, listening to the steady beat. She had to say something...

"Are you guys broken up, yet?"


End file.
